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First off, thanks to all of you B8-S5 V8 guys for your support with all of your encouraging comments, emails, PMs, and phone calls. We really appreciate you guys waiting on us to build more products for your cars. Also, a big thanks for all of those who have already purchased our JHM "Solid" Short Throw Shifter, Lightweight Rotors and a special thanks to those who have been running some parts still not to market for the last few years. Now with the acquisition of this vehicle, keep an eye for our B8-S5 V8 product line to expand very soon.

This is the official JHM B8 S5 4.2l V8 FSI build thread for our new in house 2008 S5. We will cover each and every modification and repair we make to the vehicle as we build it to push the B8-S5 4.2L V8 performance to new levels.

Specifications on the car as purchased on 6-02-13. I flew to Los Angeles to pick it up with friend and drove it back the same day.
-Completely stock 4.2L FSI V8
-6-speed manual transmission
-80,000 miles
-100% bone stock except wheel spacers and a rusty Magnaflow downpipe back system. (See picture below of how we got the stock cat-back to one of our dealer’s shops to have it shipped back up to us in Northern California for Research and Development reasons.)
-Meteor Gray Exterior
-Magma Red interior with Carbon Fiber trim

The story of how the purchase went down.
Jake here at JHM was tasked to find a car for us to purchase so we could kick our B8 S5 V8 program into high gear just like we had done with our B6-B7 S4 and B7-RS4 programs. I told him the higher the mileage, the better so we could run into issues and learn more about what fails on the car. This is just like what we did for the B6-B7 S4 starting back in 2009 as shown here -> JHM B6 S4 Build thread. It took about 6 months for him to find a good candidate since most were super clean, super low mileage, or too far away. Then this one popped up in Los Angeles at 80,000 miles and it looked clean for the mileage. I talked to the owner and jumped on a plane to LA the next day. The car ended up being as advertised and I purchased it on site so I could drive it back to Lathrop with my good friend. Here are some pictures from my phone at a Target parking garage close to LAX where the owner of the car picked us up:

This is the fun picture. So I figured we would go to a store nearby LAX after the previous owner picked me up and have them bring the stock cat back in the truck to take the owner of the car back home. That way we could buy towels and tie down straps to get the stock cat back to JHM by dropping it off at one of our dealers down in LA.

Plans for this car performance wise Running as far as we can in the 12s all-motor is the utmost priority.
1. Carbon clean and JHM B8 S5 intake spacers. Our intake spacers have been on B8-S5s already for around a year so it is ready for release, coming soon.
2. JHM Lightweight Flywheel and Stage 4 clutch. We’ve been developing this kit for over 2 years and it’s been on customer cars for over 1 ½ years. With this car purchase and our long term testing complete, final units are in production as we speak.
3. JHM Tuning. We have already tuned several B8-S5s so we just need to finalize details for a 91 octane and 93 octane file release.
4. JHM Test Pipes, JHM True Cat-back (with downpipes). We have been pretty far along with our exhaust on this car for some time now. NOTE: OEM downpipes are just resonated pipes (no cats) so for a true cat back you need to replace the downpipes as part of the system. These cars have separate pipes that are about 2 feet in length for the cats and would be upgraded to a test pipe or high flow cat pipe, basically just like a 1.8t or 2.0t but times two. Audi just configured the the B8 chassis exhaust different with an extra component for just the cats that used to be in the downpipes on older B6-B7 V8s.
5. JHM Lightweight front and rear rotors. Previously released. Click here: -> B8 S4-S5 Front and Rear Lightweight Rotors in the JHMotorsports.com online store.
6. Lightweight wheels. Time will tell what brand we’ll go with.
7. As the JHM B8-S5 4.2L V8 Program progresses, I am sure we will find more goodies.
8. (or later depending on other products we develop) JHM-Vortech Supercharger Kit.

Only time will tell what other parts we’ll release for this platform. The more you continue to support us, the more we can do with this car.

I called you guys recently regarding a custom tune or other goodies. I'm in SoCal and you indicated that I could work out smething where I have my car delivered to Lathrop for the tune with about a 2 week turn around time. I also want downpipes as well. I don't know what you'd do as far as a tune for me but I want it. I have a 2009 S5 with tiptronic. Talk to me!

Dru was telling me about this acqusition at Wuste. He also told me about that clutch kit. I -NEED- that clutch kit. Have the APR charger with the South Bend DXD disc and it does NOT even cut it. Cannot launch this car, cannot hard shift from 1st or 2nd. Does not want to grab hard. Fried the crap out of it on Friday without even being too harsh with it, I am disappointed with it. Really anxious for the JHM kit to be available.

I know violence isn't the answer. I got it wrong on purpose.

"Then you get ecodes, and it's like beer tastes better, tits are perkier, and things are just right in the world." -i1overice

Dru was telling me about this acqusition at Wuste. He also told me about that clutch kit. I -NEED- that clutch kit. Have the APR charger with the South Bend DXD disc and it does NOT even cut it. Cannot launch this car, cannot hard shift from 1st or 2nd. Does not want to grab hard. Fried the crap out of it on Friday without even being too harsh with it, I am disappointed with it. Really anxious for the JHM kit to be available.

You have a PM!

Originally Posted by Gspothit

a little late for a 2008 S5 tuning wouldn't you say? How much was the S5 anyways?

With our experience making shifters since 2006 for many different Audi Chassis we have found that 1/2" is where to be on the B8. 1" is too short IMO (we have phased that out with most models over the years based on feedback and experiences due to less leverage on the actual shifter mechanism). The only cars we offer the 1" shorter for is the older B5 chassis cars since they still sell well and those owners seem to like it, plus their transmissions are quite different than the B8 transmissions which factors into it as well. Stock height for the cosmetic crowd is not appealing so with all our B6-B7 and B8 models we have found that 1/2" drop is the best performing and best looking while still using our proven all steel design. That is why we only allow adjustment at the bottom of the shifter where you don't see it with 2 different hole locations to get the throw you want. The longer throw is a little easier than the shorter option but still much shorter than stock and both are quite smooth with that direct performance feel we are known for. I personally run our shifters in my B5 S4, B6 S4 and B8 S5 in the normal short throw setting (top hole), but 80% of our customers run it in the shortest setting (lower hole). So it is the owners preference and we cater to both. We avoid knob height adjustment due to another moving part (as part of the adjustment) that can wear out especially if any of it is aluminum, our main concerns are longevity, durability, performance and value. With just a bolt location change adjustment wise there is no longevity concern, you just move the bolt.

Basically we have been doing shifters for 7 years in Audis and used everything we have learned first hand, feedback from thousands of customers and employees to get the B8 shifter to be optimal with only 2 setting changes and at a great price. Plus it is way less confusing to the customer this way and they benefit from our experience and thousands of customers feedback by buying from us.

Thanks for the interior compliments and the question. My employees were stoked too when I bought it, I have been quite busy in the B6-B7 S4 and B7 RS4 platform and didn't realize how desirable it was. I actually love this interior now that I have a car with it. But now that I own a B8 S5 I am HOOKED!

With our experience making shifters since 2006 for many different Audi Chassis we have found that 1/2" is where to be on the B8. 1" is too short IMO (we have phased that out with most models over the years based on feedback and experiences due to less leverage on the actual shifter mechanism). The only cars we offer the 1" shorter for is the older B5 chassis cars since they still sell well and those owners seem to like it, plus their transmissions are quite different than the B8 transmissions which factors into it as well. Stock height for the cosmetic crowd is not appealing so with all our B6-B7 and B8 models we have found that 1/2" drop is the best performing and best looking while still using our proven all steel design. That is why we only allow adjustment at the bottom of the shifter where you don't see it with 2 different hole locations to get the throw you want. The longer throw is a little easier than the shorter option but still much shorter than stock and both are quite smooth with that direct performance feel we are known for. I personally run our shifters in my B5 S4, B6 S4 and B8 S5 in the normal short throw setting (top hole), but 80% of our customers run it in the shortest setting (lower hole). So it is the owners preference and we cater to both. We avoid knob height adjustment due to another moving part (as part of the adjustment) that can wear out especially if any of it is aluminum, our main concerns are longevity, durability, performance and value. With just a bolt location change adjustment wise there is no longevity concern, you just move the bolt.

Basically we have been doing shifters for 7 years in Audis and used everything we have learned first hand, feedback from thousands of customers and employees to get the B8 shifter to be optimal with only 2 setting changes and at a great price. Plus it is way less confusing to the customer this way and they benefit from our experience and thousands of customers feedback by buying from us.

Thanks for the interior compliments and the question. My employees were stoked too when I bought it, I have been quite busy in the B6-B7 S4 and B7 RS4 platform and didn't realize how desirable it was. I actually love this interior now that I have a car with it. But now that I own a B8 S5 I am HOOKED!

Thanks for all the detailed info, I know I have made my decision! I remember all the great stuff JHM made for the b6 s4 when I had one so I am excited for what is to come for b8!

Standard at JHM with ANY FSI all motor car we ALWAYS do a carbon clean every 10k to 20k to keep them in top running shape and keep the high rpm power strong. Time and time again we have seen B7 RS4s gain 15-30WHP when having a Carbon Cleaning done after 20k+ miles of buildup. We have also done this before and after test with our standard 3rd gear pull data as well and we always see amazing gains. So this is another known power adder or maintainer depending on how often you do it.

So to speed up the process with our in house car since we know it works we collected acceleration data in 3rd gear from 2000 rpm to Redline on a day with 75f temps and car with the same tire pressure, same exact direction on the same road, same gas fill level, etc. (We have done the cleaning and spacers on B8 S5s and TONS of B7 RS4s over the years so this data collection is just for re-base lining for the next mod on our car.) This is VERY standard for us and we have been using this technique since 2006. This helps us learn how the car really performs acceleration wise and helps us know how to get cars right to go fast down a 1/4 mile and show us things a dyno may not due to wind drag and a non-controlled environment, etc. We do believe a dyno is a great measuring tool on the same car in same conditions used for internal data and not as a marketing tool but for supplemental data. We have just had such great success this way and have thousands of happy customers after installing our mods so we plan on continuing with what works with our B8 S5 V8 program. With that being said we still may dyno our B8 S5 periodically to aid in the overall picture and data collection. With every mod, no matter how tiny to confirm the results are similar or better than our B6-B7 S4 and our B7 RS4 programs we will be doing this in the background like any other development program we have. We plan on basically implementing all our proven parts for those cars into the B8 S5 over the next several months and years.

With that being said it was a no brainer to install and finalize our B8 S5 intake spacer kit for the early B8 S5s with the 1 piece aluminum manifold. In 2009 they had a split and switched to a 2-piece plastic manifold (working on this kit now, but it is more involved due to the design of the lower manifold and the fuel rail). We generally don't like to do two things at once but we already know these work on FSI V8s based on testing on the RS4 over the years (with installs done after a carbon clean separately). This way we could get the power back and keep the manifold cooler for more consistent power and add a little torque over stock in the process. Then we can move onto finalizing our tune, lightweight flywheel and clutch kit

INSTALL NOTES for JHM Intake Spacers (8mm thick) for B8-S5 FSI V8, Up to Early 2009:

Basically it is the same labor plus a couple little modifications as an intake manifold removal for a carbon clean. Here are some notes that a person who has successfully performed a carbon clean would need. Also supplied is some information regarding the oil separator heater bypass kit.

Sorry for the delayed responses and thanks to all who subscribed and expressed your excitement. It motivates us. If I missed anyone please repost.

Originally Posted by manguyen

Hurry up with that supercharger before I go with apr :-)

We will do all we can, but the kit is MUCH different for mounting vs our B6-B7 S4 kit and our B7 RS4 kit. Hopefully within a year, but only time will tell.

Originally Posted by sirmium

what happeend with the headers you were developing for S5(i remember seeing thread elsewhere while back)? no plans to put them on this car?

We did a one off set a few years ago. We are concentrating on test pipes and full exhausts since pulling the motor is probably a few years out for these S5s for maintenance reasons. We learned a lot with the B6-B7 S4 about making them too early in the game. We need to progress as the market needs so look for FULL manifold back stuff VERY soon.

Originally Posted by whiteq

Also subscribed, i am still running a stock clutch with my APR stage 3, no doubt it will eventually fail, however it has been prefect for for 3 years! love JHM..

Can I please have an approx forgive delivered to Australia? For a clutch?

hope this isnt one of those threads where they state they are doing something and then disappear for a good year or two. Is that charger out already? :)

Nope, the car is my DD as the owner of the company so I plan to do my best to keep it updated like our B6-B7 S4 build thread that went on from 2009 to 2011 that is actually due for some love very soon. So initially it should be quite a busy thread, lots of goodies to build and release.

Originally Posted by NOFEARCT

Maybe some RS5 stuff, perhaps, maybe possibly?

That would be the natural course of things. Just like the B6-B7 S4 stuff made its way into the B7 RS4 we plan on doing the same for the RS5 once we get the S5 V8 market to the level of the B6-B7 S4.

I called you guys recently regarding a custom tune or other goodies. I'm in SoCal and you indicated that I could work out smething where I have my car delivered to Lathrop for the tune with about a 2 week turn around time. I also want downpipes as well. I don't know what you'd do as far as a tune for me but I want it. I have a 2009 S5 with tiptronic. Talk to me!

Please follow up with us we need a Tiptronic car here NOW for some Test-Pipe or Cat-Pipe fitment confirmation. Remember the downpipes on these cars just has resonators and is included as part of a proper FULL cat back system which ours will. So these cars have Cat pipes between the downpipes and manifolds that we can get on your car and our true full cat back shortly as well. From what I can tell on AWE's site they only have a downpipe back and not a true cat back, this is what magnaflow does as well. For a true cat back on these cars you must replace the resonated downpipes. APR already has a true cat back and that is what our system will achieve as well. The biggest power gains once you have a true cat back will be our new test pipes or Performance cat pipes.